MBONGENI PAYS TRIBUTE TO WOMEN THROUGH ART

MBABANE – Paying tribute to African women through fine art.

This best describes contemporary fine artist Mbongeni Fakudze’s work which has been recognised internationally. For people that do not know him, he is a liSwati who is currently plying his trade in South Africa. On February 19, 2022, he hosted his solo exhibition titled ‘Pieces Of Me’ in Sandton, Johannesburg. His expertise in acrylic, digital print and mixed media installations on canvas has seen him travel the world as he also had an exhibition in Singapore, an Island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. In 2017, he once hosted a solo exhibition dubbed Androgen at the ODA Gallery in Franschoek. He also worked the Yebo Art Gallery.

Paintings

When asked about what he aimed at addressing through his paintings in a recent interview on SABC 1, he said his work was an upliftment to what the image of African women was in society as they deserved to be respected equally when compared to men. “I portray women in a sense where they are head wrapped. In African Culture, women in head wraps are of an important stature, which is the theme around the portraits that I do and how society has misrepresented women,” he said. He went on to say it was important to highlight this through his work as he was brought up by a strong woman.

He has worked with many galleries from around the world too, as the quality of his art has made him to be recognised from all over the world.
Mbongeni Fakudze was born in Mbabane on April 16, 1982. He studied at Sifundzani Primary School and then attended Waterford Kamhlaba (UWCSA) until Form 5. He then completed a Fine Arts correspondence course through the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria. Afterwards, he attended the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria for Fine Arts.

Upon completion, he returned to the kingdom where he registered a small company doing animation work for corporate advertising. After a few years he moved to Johannesburg, where he studied 3D animation in Randburg. After receiving his certification in 3D animation, Mbongeni returned to the country once more and now does primarily visual art work. Fakudze was first introduced to the arts at Waterford where he discovered himself as an artist. His art teacher liked and emphasised the importance of Surrealist art, and Mbongeni was exposed to artists like Dali and Magritte, both of whom still influence his work today. “Upon finishing school,” Mbongeni remembers, “all I wanted to do was paint.” He quickly, however, moved from painting to exploring digital art and animation. “Animation is the natural next step” he explains, “the still leads to the moving object.” Mbongeni’s animation is artistic and abstract, as opposed to commercial. He has recently become interested in film – exploring multimedia performances that combine video, photographs and graphic art with live performance.

Poetry

He also enjoys writing poetry, an art form that he sees as very connected to his visual art – “all of my art comes from the same mind, just in different mediums.” In every medium, Mbongeni’s work is lyrical, quite abstract, and oftentimes socially and politically relevant. In 2004, after being awarded the Best Figure Drawing Award at TUT, he was invited by SABC to do a portrait for the Programme “All You Need Is Love” which was aired on national TV (SABC 1). Another important highlight in Mbongeni’s artistic career occurred in 2010, when he was awarded for Best Public Sculpture competition by the Matsapha Town Board. His sculpture now stands as a historical monument in the gardens of the town board.

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